`Clerks II' is worth checking out

review B

July 21, 2006|By CHRIS KALTENBACH | CHRIS KALTENBACH,SUN MOVIE CRITIC

Clerks II packs few surprises. Chronic slackers Dante and Randal are still working behind a counter. Jay and Silent Bob are still selling weed and pushing their own brand of stoner philosophy. Writer-director Kevin Smith remains plugged in to a moronic mindset that would be hilarious if only it were ...

Oh, to heck with the moralizing. Yes, the characters in Clerks II hardly qualify as role models, but they can be blisteringly funny in an in-your-face, to-heck-with-taste way. And while the film sometimes stoops to lows the term sophomoric barely describes, it also possesses a sly wisdom and compassion that's easy to admire.